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External DVD drive needed

I'm looking to buy an external DVD drive to play region 2 DVDs. Since firewire is becoming increasing difficult to find, and an expensive option, I'd like to buy a regular USB2.0 drive.

Is there anything I need to consider other than can DVD player, and Toast being able to recognize the drive? I will be looking to see if the drive can support multiple power requirements as I'd like to take it to other countries if I can't stay in Japan. Other than the big name Japanese brands there is also one called Buffalo. Some friends have also recommended this brand, but I doubt it supports multiple power requirements.

I am running SL with all the updates on my Macbook 2,1

Macbook 2,1 (2.16GHz Core 2 Duo), Mac OS X (10.6.2), 2GB RAM, 500GB & 1TB ext drives, Dual-band Airport, iPhone 3GS

Posted on Jan 24, 2010 6:03 PM

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11 replies

Jan 24, 2010 6:26 PM in response to Untmdsprt

I don't think that an external DVD drive will help you get around the region coding. You might be able to set Region 2 in the external drive's own firmware, but OS X itself will still have region 1 set (it's stored in PRAM) and the software you might use (Apple's DVD player, for example) will as well.

You might have luck with the VLC media player software ignoring the region coding, but I'm still not sure it will work even with an external drive. Try to borrow one and test it first before dropping the cash.

Jan 24, 2010 7:28 PM in response to Király

You mean to tell me that OSX isn't smart enough to realize that I have two seperate drives with two different region codes and I'm out of luck?!? I was under the impression that DVD player checks the disc with the drive it's in and if the codes match then we're good to go.

Assuming my impression is correct, let's get back to my original questionand please answer that.

BTW, drives for Japan and bought in Japan are already set up for region 2. There is no need to change anything on them.

Jan 24, 2010 9:23 PM in response to Untmdsprt

You mean to tell me that OSX isn't smart enough to realize that I have two seperate drives with two different region codes and I'm out of luck?!? I was under the impression that DVD player checks the disc with the drive it's in and if the codes match then we're good to go.

OSX works fine with two DVD drives set to different regions. I have a Mac Pro with two drives, one region 1, the other region 2. DVD Player works fine with region 1 or 2 DVDs when used in the matching drive.

Before you buy a second drive, try VLC (Set the "CDs & DVDs" system preference to not start DVD Player.)
<http://www.videolan.org>
With many DVD drives, it can play a DVD without the drive and DVD region matching.

There are still FireWire optical drives available
<http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/>

or you can use any optical drive in a FireWire enclosure
<http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRSFW8U2/> for SATA
<http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Syba/SYU2F5BK/> for IDE

Jan 24, 2010 9:59 PM in response to Malcolm Rayfield

Malcolm Rayfield wrote:
OSX works fine with two DVD drives set to different regions. I have a Mac Pro with two drives, one region 1, the other region 2. DVD Player works fine with region 1 or 2 DVDs when used in the matching drive.

Before you buy a second drive, try VLC (Set the "CDs & DVDs" system preference to not start DVD Player.)


Great, that answer has solved the issue the other poster was having. I've already tried VLC and it will not play region 2 discs in the internal drive.



Now then, BACK to my original question: can I buy any Windows marketed DVD burner and have it do just fine on my Mac with both DVD player, and Toast?

Jan 24, 2010 10:27 PM in response to Untmdsprt

can I buy any Windows marketed DVD burner and have it do just fine on my Mac with both DVD player, and Toast?

It should work. Note that DVD Player may refuse to run with any external drive, but VLC should be fine with it.

You can get USB powered drives (they may need two USB computer ports to get enough power), so you don't need power adapters.
<http://go.iomega.com/en/products/multimedia-drive/dvd-cdrw/dvd-superslim/?partn er=4735#overviewItem_tab>

Jan 25, 2010 12:06 AM in response to Malcolm Rayfield

You can get USB powered drives (they may need two USB computer ports to get enough power), so you don't need power adapters.


My personal experience is that you tend to move external drives around to different machines. USB power is iffy in many PC's and several MacBook's. When you consider that very many laptops only have a couple of USB ports and you could end up with too few of them, the problems are worse. I always buy externally powered devices if they have a motor, and all my USB hubs are externally powered so that you don't have to worry about drawing too much current and have devices dropping out.

External DVD drive needed

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